Fly Fishing . . . and other stuff

¡Dia Del Padre!

And so Father’s Day came and went. I wanted to publish this Father’s Day-themed post in time for a Dad’s day shout out… A year ago… It slipped under the radar for a bit. Enjoy the read, amigo!

Loaded and ready

Try to think of a better way to spend Father’s Day than floating down a river, slamming smallies, and popping the occasional brew with the old man. Can’t, can you? The seed for next year’s gift idea is planted, free of charge. Trust me, he’ll love it.

Weather forecasts – like most attempts at predicting the future – often don’t pan out. The day was supposed to be brutally hot, but a nice breeze, plenty of cloud coverage, and slightly cooler temps than expected made for a lovely experience. I thank the Father’s Day gods for this one. I stilled poured one out for the fish gods, just to be safe.

Floating the ‘Doah

I honestly don’t remember if we planned this trip ahead of time or just winged it. Recent rains scared away most folks who feared elevated, chocolate milk-colored water levels, which certainly benefited our cause. One thing I’ve learned while throwing bugs around the Old Dominion, always check the water gauges before you visit. I’ve showed up stream side many times thinking I’d see gin-clear, perfect conditions only to find out I drove plenty a distance to get out, stretch my legs, contemplate risking my life to fish high dirty waters, contemplate it more, usually fish with no reward, then turn the car around and head home a defeated little boy. It’s not a pretty sight. I don’t recommend it.

On a side-note, if the water level is high. Don’t get in or on the river. People die for this all the time. It’s not worth it. Perform a cost-benefit analysis and be safe. If you don’t know what that is, look it up. I don’t think I could give you the formal definition. Anyhow, back to the main point…

Piggy, pig, pig

We fished for hours with the pleasant feeling of no hard end time. We planned on camping along the river and therefore floated slowly, fishing every deep cut, downed log, back eddy, front eddy (I think I just made that term up), and ripple we could find. It was glorious. Many smallies fell victim to our deceptive tactics which involved white clousers, brown crystal buggers, and whatever my dad threw on the ultra-lite spinning rig.

Stand up for what you believe in

One of the cool things about floating with my padre is getting him alone. Before any of you sick fuckers let your minds take this to places dirty and tainted, I mean it in that I have a big family and rarely get one-on-one time with him. He tends to act slightly different, as most people do, when its just you and him. It’s cool to experience every now and again. Hopefully all you folks get to do the same soon. Not with my dad though…

So, hug your dad, take him fishing, tell him you love him, take him fishing, and reflect on just how far you’ve made it because of him… and take him fishing.

Pictures are worth a thousand words. So, read up!

It’s hot, baby! Take a dip

Green backs and green hats

Both flies crushed. Chucked the light in the sun, and the dark in the shade